Stephentown man facing 25 years for DWI-related fatal crash

TROY--A 21-year-old Stephentown man is facing up to 25 years behind bars for an alcohol-and-drug-related fatal accident that left one man dead back in June 2012.

A Rensselaer County Grand Jury grand jury on Friday handed down an 11-count indictment against Brendan Hoffman, including three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, three counts of second-degree vehicular homicide and charges of reckless driving.

Hoffman is currently free on $20,000.00 bail and will likely be arraigned in County Court sometime next week, according to Rensselaer County DA Richard McNally.

"Hoffman was indicted under two different theories of intoxication," McNally said. "Driving while intoxicated by alcohol, and driving under a combination of alcohol and drugs and driving recklessly."

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McNally said the prison exposure for such charges "could be up to 25 years" if Hoffman is convicted on the top count in the indictment against him.

"One of the elements of the 'aggravated' charge is that Hoffman has a prior conviction for DWI, which was about a year before in Petersburg," McNally said.

Killed in the June crash was Christopher Baker, 24, the son of local attorney David Baker. Witness reports of the incident state that Baker was thrown from the car some 100 feet off of Cranston Road, where he lay unattended for hours after Hoffman fled the scene.

Baker was a college student studying physics at RPI at the time of his death.